26.4.07

Arroz con costra

Oh, the joys of WiFi!Here I am, blogging from a hotel in Alicante. Why am I not out on the town, sampling the crazy nightlife? Because I´ve been going to dozens of schools, talking to hundreds of kids, and signing millions of books. So I´m pretty dead.We had a very reviving lunch, though, let me tell you. Here it´s all rice, rice, rice. Which is great. Yesterday I had rice, even though my host assured me that that place didn´t specialize in rice, and it was nothing special. As you can imagine, it was miles better than any I´d had in a long while. My host still wagged his head, though, and assured me that today I´d try the Orihuela specialty, arroz con costra. Rice with a crust? Sounded fine.So we went today, and there it was, a completely exotic thing which I urge you to try if you ever come here. The crust, which to my mind suggests something crunchy and crumbly, is nothing like that. They make the rice the normal (that is to say, the very exceptional) way, and once it´s made, they pour beaten egg over it, and bake it until the egg is set, risen, and golden.Sounds weird? Well, take it from me, it was excellent. Of course it helped that the rice was chock full of goodies, all sort of chicken bits, and two kinds of sausage, one faintly scented with cinammon and one with fennel. I loved it.There you are. From the frontlines, Ximenita, rice reporter extraordinaire. I intend to eat more rice tomorrow, so stay tuned.